Pakistan releases 55 Indian fishermen

Islamabad/Karachi: Pakistan on Wednesday released 55 Indian fishermen, including 15 teenagers, from a jail in the southern port city of Karachi as a "goodwill gesture" on the occasion of India's Independence Day.

The fishermen, most of them from Gujarat, were released from the Malir jail and put on buses for Lahore, from where they will be repatriated via the Wagah land border on Thursday.

"It is a gesture of goodwill from the Pakistan government and we hope India will also reciprocate accordingly," provincial Law Minister Ayaz Soomro told the media at the Malir jail where he saw off the Indian fishermen.

Ayaz Soomro said that it was only through such goodwill gestures that both countries could build trust and begin a new era of cooperation.